City stockbrokers Merrill Lynch has sacked 15 members of its London staff for sending offensive material on its system, say reports.

According to the Evening Standard, the offences allegedly included the downloading of pornographic material.

A Merrill Lynch spokeswoman said: "As is Merrill Lynch's policy, the firm will not tolerate any abuse of its business email system, particularly when extremely sensitive material is involved. When the abuse was discovered, after a proper investigation, we took immediate action and the individuals concerned were dismissed."